1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for cutting a continuous web having a plurality of fibers including tows.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, a cleaning web member is known into which a handle member is inserted to make the web member usable for cleaning a tabletop and the like (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2005-40641). Such a cleaning web member has a main body in which a plurality of fibers are layered on a base sheet, and thermoplastic fibers called tows are used as the fibers.
In the production line for the cleaning web members, a plurality of tows whose fiber direction matches a transport direction are secured by welding or the like to a base sheet that is continuous along the transport direction, so that a continuous web that is continuous in the transport direction is formed as a semi-finished product, then this continuous web is cut at a product width pitch in the transport direction, and thereby, cleaning web members in cut sheet forms are manufactured.
Here, there is an exemplary method for cutting this continuous web in which, while intermittently transporting the continuous web, and while the transport is stopped, an upper blade is moved toward a lower blade positioned on the opposite side in the thickness direction of the continuous web and thereby, the continuous web is sheared with the upper blade and the lower blade.
However, according to this method, transport of the continuous web has to be stopped every time cutting is performed and thus, productivity is poor.
Furthermore, the tows used in the continuous web are thermoplastic resin fibers. Accordingly, during shearing, due to pressing in the transport direction, which may occur at a clearance in the transport direction between the upper blade and the lower blade, tows at the cut target position are easily welded or pressure-bonded to each other. As a result, the cut edges may be bound to each other in loops and the performance (dust trapping performance during use for cleaning) of the brush section may deteriorate.
Furthermore, if the cut edges are bound to each other in loops, the volume of the cleaning web member decreases, which also lowers the performance of the brush section.